DeLauro, Polis Re-introduce Legislation to Expand Women’s Access to High-Paying Jobs

WASHINGTON- Reps. Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) and Jared Polis(CO-2), along with 20 of their colleagues, today introduced the Women andWorkforce Investment for Nontraditional Jobs (Women WIN Jobs) Act in an effortto fight gender inequity in the workplace and give low-income women a pathwayout of poverty. This legislation will be offered as an amendment tomorrow,Wednesday, March 6th at the Education and the Workforce Full Committee mark upof H.R. 803, the Supporting Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS)Act, which will reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to create amore effective and accountable workforce development system.

"This bill marks an important step forward in expandingcareer opportunities for women in Colorado and across the country," said Rep.Jared Polis (CO-2). "From green energy to construction to manufacturing,women are underrepresented in many of today's most important occupations for noother reason than a lack of opportunities for job training. I'm pleased to joinwith my colleagues to support funding to help recruit, train and place women intraditionally male-dominated occupations that they are more than qualified for.By partnering with community-based organizations, educational institutions andlocal businesses, Women WIN Jobs Act will expand job opportunities for allAmericans and enable our nation to develop a diverse workforce capable ofcompeting at the highest levels of the 21st-century global economy."

"This legislation will strengthen our economic recovery byinvesting in women who have long been relegated to lower-paying jobs," said Rep.Rosa DeLauro (CT-3). "Through public-private partnerships, we will givewomen the tools they need to better provide for their families and contributeto our economy. The Women WIN Jobs Act will help America's women better theirlives, families, and communities."

"The Women WIN Jobs Act will greatly boost the ability oflow-income women and girls to reach a higher level of economic security thanthey otherwise would," said Shawn McMahon, Acting CEO and President ofWider Opportunities for Women. "It also will help employers in these fieldsreplace the 10,000 skilled workers they are losing each day to the retirementof the baby-boomers."

The Women WIN Jobs Act would help recruit, prepare, placeand retain women in high-demand, high-wage nontraditional jobs. Through a newfederal grant program that will support innovative partnerships in each andevery state, this bill will enable women to become self-sufficient and earnmore while simultaneously boosting our nation's economy. Despite the recession,employers in several industries are facing severe shortages of skilled workersto fill the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs of the future – frominformation technology and the building trades, to renewable energy and energyefficiency.

Today women represent half of our nation's workforce, buttwo-thirds of working women are concentrated in only 5% of occupationalcategories, most of which are among the lowest paid occupations, except forteaching and nursing. Nontraditional jobs—those in which women comprise 25% orless of employees—pay 20-30% more than traditionally female jobs, but only 6.2%of women are employed in these occupations.

Other original co-sponsors of this legislation include:Reps. John Conyers, Diana DeGette, Raúl Grijalva, Gwen Moore, EleanorHolmes-Norton, James Langevin, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Corrine Brown, AlbioSires, Earl Blumenauer, Lucille Roybal-Allard, John Lewis, Frederica Wilson,Alcee Hastings, Louise Slaughter, Keith Ellison, John Garamendi, DavidCicilline, Jim Moran and Maxine Waters.

H.R. 803, the Women and Workforce Investment forNontraditional Jobs (Women WIN Jobs) Act has been endorsed by the followingorganizations: Wider Opportunities for Women; Association for Career andTechnical Education; Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs; Center forWomen Policy Studies; Chicago Women in Trades; Coalition of Labor Union Women;Community Action Partnership; Legal Momentum; Moore Community House Women inConstruction Program; National Alliance of Partnerships in Equity; NationalTransitional Jobs Network; National Women's Law Center; Oregon Tradeswomen,Inc.; Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law; Vermont Works for Women;West Virginia Women Work; Women's City Club of New York; American Associationof University Women; Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law; NationalCouncil of Women's Organizations; Community Action Partnership; The NationalAssociation of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium; TheNational Association of State Directors of Career Technical EducationConsortium.